Garment-supporter or garter.



No. 643,639. Patentefl Feb; 20, 1900.

.1. w. FAXON.

GARMENT SUPPORTEB 0B BARTER.

(Application filed Oct. 28, 1898.)

TNITED STATES ATENT GARMENT-SUPPORTER OR GARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,639, dated February20, 1900. Application filed October 28,1898, Serial No. 694,789. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES WARREN FAXoN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Oak Park, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Garment-Supporters or Garters, of whichthe following is a f ull,clear, and exact description.

My invention relates more particularly to the clasps ofgarment-supporters and garters; and its object is to provide suchimprovements thereto that it will securely clasp and retain its hold onthe garment without biting into or tearing the same and to provide asimplyconstructed clasp which both at the point of attachment to thegarment and to the suspending member of the supporter of which it formsa part can have a free articulate movement. This I accomplish by themeans hereinafter fully described and as particularly pointed out in theclaim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention, showingthe practical application of the same. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal centralsection through said invention. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same. Fig.4 is a perspective View of the clasp on an enlarged scale.

In the drawings, A and B respectively represent the two jaws of theclasp of a garmentsupporter or garter. The jaw B, designed to come incontact with the person, is provided with a short shank, the end edge ofwhich is so shaped and rolled back upon itself as to form a transversesegmentally-elongated eye Near the opposite end of this jaw it isprovided at a point preferably midway between its sides with anoutwardly-projectin g tooth O, the major axis of which is arranged in atransverse plane and the outer surface of which is beveled or inclinedfrom the said edge thereof nearest the pivot of the two jaws to ortoward the adjacent end edge of said jaw 13. The side wall or edge 0 ofthis tooth O nearest the pivot of the jaws is undercut, substantially asshown. At a suitable point along its length this jaw B is provided withpivotal lugs, against the inner surfaces of which the pivotal lugs ofthe other jaw A lap and to which they are pivotally connected by meansof a pintle (1. Between the lugs of the jaw A pintle cl is looselysurrounded by a coil-spring D, the ends of which project in the samedirection and respectively bear in opposite directions against saidjaws, so as to normally keep their engaging ends in contact.

The end of jaw A normallyin contact with B is provided with an openingg, that corresponds in shape with though slightly greater than the areaof the plan of the tooth 0, so as to permit said tooth to projectslightly through it.

In operation the clasp is given a purchase on the fabric of the garmentby simply separating the jaws sufliciently and then pulling the edge ora fold of said fabric between the jaws up past the tooth O and thenreleasing said jaws, so that they can come together and pinch the fabricbetween them. As the jaws come together the cloth or fabric is drawntightly over the tooth and conforms to the shape thereof, and when boththe cloth and the clasp are released and the clasp pulls the garmentupward the cloth assumes an acute angle over the beak e of the tooth andcannot be dislodged therefrom until the jaws are separated again. Now ifthe outer surface of the tooth was parallel with the surface of the bodyof the inner jaw B and if the wall 0 thereof nearest the pivot of theclasp was at right angles thereto the cloth or fabric would readilyslide overthe right-angular surfaces thereof and slip out of the graspof the clasp; but when an acute angle is formed the cloth in contactwith the two sides of said acute angle when drawn in the same directionmakes the beak of the tooth a focus, as it were, of the two lines offorce and cannot accidentally slip off while the jaws of the clasp areclosed together.

My improved clasp is suspended from the garter or garment-supporter bymeans of a cord f, passing through the segmental eyeb in such mannerthat the cord can freely move therethrough. At the same time the mannerin which the clasp grasps the fabric or cloth of the garment, ashereinbefore described, is such that said clasp is capable of anindependent lateral movement struck from the center of'the tooth 0. As aresult the clasp will not tear or wrench the garment when the wearermoves so as to throw the clasp out of its normal relative position tosaid garment,

but will perfectly adapt itself to the varying lines of force which thediiferent positions of the wearer necessitates.

\Vhat I claim as new is As an article of manufacture a clasp for gartersand garment-supporters consisting of two jaws each having pivotal lugs,a pintle pivotally connecting the same, a coil-spring surrounding saidpintle the spread of the ends of which normally closes said jaws; one ofsaid jaws being provided with a suitable tooth the outer end of which isbeveled or inclined toward the adjacent end of said jaw and the sideWall of which nearestthe pivot of said jaws being, undercut, and saidjaw having a suitable eye formed in its upperend the other jaw beingprovided with a companion opening for said tooth in the end normallyclosed against said first-mentioned jaw as and for the purpose setforth.

JAMES \VARREN FAXON. lVitnesses:

M. I. FRIEL, FRANK D. THOMASON.

